


Beautiful Wrecks

by argentConflagration, orphan_account, PeregrineWilliams



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Chemicals, F/M, HSWC 2013, abuse and harassment by superior officers, references to Troll Cosmo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 19:37:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1047786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/argentConflagration/pseuds/argentConflagration, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeregrineWilliams/pseuds/PeregrineWilliams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Growing up and becoming an adult is hard, everyone knows that. But the most important part is learning just how best to say 'fuck you' to the society you find yourself living in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beautiful Wrecks

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Round 2 of the Homestuck Shipping World Cup, and we ended up placing 7th that round! Story by argentConflagration and endeofblood, art by PeregrineWilliams, writing by argentConflagration.

**_"§ 8.23.95:_ **  
**_Any physical deformity judged to be a potential interference in the execution of a legislacerator's duties is grounds for expulsion from training, and in extreme cases, culling."_ **  
_-Expectations and Duties of Alternian Legal Branches, Volume 3_

With every self-assured step, her boots click sharply against the tile floor of the training hall. She walks over to her assigned space as if the legislacerator program belongs to her, as if it was personally designed with her in mind. It's not as if her seemingly easy confidence comes without justification--she's prepared for this her whole life, and her exam scores are more than enough to shove in someone's face if they challenge her right to walk these corridors. But her supremely confident demeanor still draws glares from the other students, and she can never quite shake the feeling that she's being scrutinized under a microscope.

The first time an instructor had seen her without her glasses, and she had brazenly asserted that she could do anything any other student could, it drew more than raised eyebrows. At first the sense of confidence and purpose surrounding her had intimidated the higher-ups into granting their approval. But slowly, she began to feel tested.

At first it was just a matter of catching on to the fact that she couldn't see the exact same things as an ordinary troll. "Pyrope's got eyes in the back of her head," they would say. It didn’t take long for someone to realize she couldn't quite make out faraway things, and as the instructors slowly moved chalkboards farther away from the trainees, the more aggressive and ambitious students would start to fill in the first rows of seats. As it got out that she was smelling the words, strong perfumes became the fashion of the day.

For Terezi, it was only an excuse to be even more obnoxious about being able to jump through their hoops.

 

 

* * *

 

**_"Congratulations, test subject #0026782701. You have been selected for Helmsman preparation procedures by Imperial authority. Please be aware that damaging your body or mind in any way is now an Imperial felony, as you are now the sole property of the Empire."_ **  
_-Letter, [Redacted] to Sollux Captor, 7th Perigee, 5th Dim Season, 2nd Summer, Sweep 2974 Post-Ascension_

He can't keep doing this any more.

He spends his nights being tested for his psychic abilities: pure force, fine manipulation, ability to retain control under extreme circumstances, stamina, ability to perform multiple tasks at once, and countless other trials. Every night is expected to be an improvement over the last, and every day he feels sicker and more drained from the start. He's told that potential helmsmen like him are supposed to feel invigorated with excitement to serve the Empire in such a unique capacity. He can't test this assertion, though, because he never sees anyone else except on computer screens. It's to prepare him for the loneliness of space, they say.

The tests aren't the worst part, though. When they're over, the chemical treatment begins. Every inch of his body has to be primed to plug into the inside of an Imperial battleship. Acrid solutions wash over him, licking at the surface of his skin. And twice a week, they're not limited to the outside of his body. Must be expensive as shit, he muses. All this to get a person ready to burn out quickly and decay slowly, trapped in their own body, nothing but a biological computer.

This part doesn't hurt quite so much, because if he weren't anesthetized he'd never make it through this. But the smell of clean where there shouldn't be clean lingers on his skin when he returns home. At first, he would notice a shiver running through his skin as his body tried to reject the process. Now, it's a constant background hum that never really goes away.

But his refusal to take this shit lying down is wrapped into every line of code running this facility. He's giving himself a little more time to breathe between tests, and screwing with dosages to keep him from reaching the state they need him in. And little by little he's escalating his revenge, trying to see how many times he can make them download hardcore porn when they wanted test scores before they unleash hell's fury on his skinny ass. It doesn't matter. There is nothing they can do to him that they aren't planning on doing already.

 

 

* * *

 

**_"The purpose of a moirail is, first and foremost, to restrain one's partner from any violent tendencies. To be a successful moirail, one must act as a calming influence to rein in any reckless or disruptive behaviors. Secondarily, one must be willing to address with one's partner any underlying issues that may lead to such behaviors if left unchecked."_ **  
_-Excerpt from standard schoolfeeding curriculum regarding the pale quadrant_

He's home later than she is, as usual, and a few rays are even beginning to peek over the horizon when he finally walks through the door. By now she's used to the fact that the smell of Sollux is one of chemicals and exhaustion, and he barely opens his eyes before slumping against her on the couch.

"Were those idiots being particularly awful today or what?" he mumbles. "You've got a cut on your nose."

She sighs, letting her hands drape around his thin frame. "Nah, just something I picked up when they tried to hit me with a dart from the other side of the recreation field, out of range of my nose. The attempt was completely nonlethal, I assure you!"

"And how'd it end?" he asks, sleep already heavy in his voice.

"Excellent. After one hit, I caught the next dart in the book I was reading, and left it in the perpetrator's soup at lunchtime." She tugs at the corner of his shirt. "Hey, you want to actually sleep in the 'coon this time?"

"Yeah, 'course." He reluctantly puts in the effort to strip down and slip into his side of the recuperacoon. "I rigged a security schmuck's sensor arrays to pick up crappy horror movie special effects spiders. Tapped into a camera so I could watch him lose his shit and everything."

She grins. "Well if you weren't completely awesome, you wouldn't be my moirail, now would you?"

"Yeah, there's no question about it, I'm just the best there is."

"You're such a narcissistic asshole," she says, giving him a playful punch to the arm.

"What was I supposed to do, argue with you?"

"If you are asking me to explain basic communication skills to Sollux Captor, I think I would have better luck teaching a meowbeast to tapdance."

"Fine, be that way," he says, sinking into the slime with an exaggerated sigh.

"Pale for you," is her only reply.

"Pale for you."

 

* * *

 

**_"The old wisdom that 'moirallegiance is magic' is spot on! No matter what's going on in your friend's pale life, their moirail will have a better grasp of the situation and be in a better position to handle it than you are, so it's best not to interfere."_ **  
_-Troll Cosmo, issue #8237_

It's not a good night for anyone when Sollux's overseers find solid proof of the ways he's been messing with them. As for Sollux, it turns out that there are ways to cause severe pain to a promising young psionic that have an 'acceptable' risk of causing temporary or permanent brain damage.

As for Terezi, she gets into a full-blown fight when she hears about what they're doing to him. By the time the dust settles, she's bruised, bleeding, and--for once--not victorious.

And as for Karkat, he manages to pull them away from their superiors and bring them back to his hive, where at least he can assure himself they're safe.

They barely have time to collapse on the couch before he opens the discussion by saying, "You guys suck at being moirails."

"Thank you Karkat," Terezi replies wearily. "Now that we have established that you win all the prizes for rudeness and assholery, why don't you tell us exactly what is wrong with our moirallegiance?"

"You don't calm each other! All you do is feed into each other's tendencies for doing stupid reckless shit that's going to get you both killed!"

Sollux makes a noise of irritation. "KK, shut up. If you're trying to say that what happened to me was TZ's fault, then 1) that's idiotic and you're an asshole and 2) I really don't feel like putting up with that kind of shit right now." He leans back against his moirail defensively.

"Karkat," Terezi says, "I'm not going to tell you that you don't know what it's like, because I think you do! But you can't tell us to lie down and let the Empire walk all over us!"

"That isn't even the point," interjects Sollux, sitting up a bit in a futile attempt to look a little less pathetic. "This is so fucking out of line, KK. What kind of friend tries to get in the way of the moirallegiance between his friends?"

But even as he protests, he doesn't even object when she holds him around the waist, a little too intimate a gesture to do in front of just anyone. There's a mutual understanding that Karkat is different, and it's only by the credit of their close friendship that they're even tolerating his interference in their moirallegiance as much as they are.

"The kind of friend who doesn't want to see his friends get themselves killed!" Karkat spits. "Just because you see diamonds in each other's eyes doesn't mean you're going to be perfect for each other all the time, and someone's got to step in when you're putting each other in danger! You want to stand up to the Empire and be goddamn heroes and that's fucking fantastic, but there's no point to it if you're just going to end up as a smear on the ground! I don't think you even realize what it's like to be here watching you two do stupid things to piss off people who could get you executed! Have some fucking consideration for others!"

There's a minute of silence after Karkat finishes his tirade, Terezi biting her lip in worry. "Alright," she finally says. "I think I get where you're coming from."

 

* * *

 

**_"While we recognize that acts of moirallegiance are sometimes unavoidable regardless of whether others are around, we ask that members of the hivestem respect basic decency and not use the close proximity of living spaces as an opportunity for voyeuristic behavior."_ **  
_-Duskhive Community Living Guidelines_

"Sollux, what do you think?" she asks, leaning forward.

In something of a confused tone, he answers "I can't really...." He puts a hand to his temple. "Can't really think..." When next he opens his mouth, nothing comes out but wordless noises. "Eh--" and then "uh--" and then "sh--", but he doesn't get out a word.

Karkat's eyes go wide, and Terezi quickly turns him around to face her. His face is twitching, maybe out of pain or maybe something else, but it doesn't look good.

Terezi's blood turns to ice, and she fists her hands in his shirt. Distantly, she can hear a low murmur of "shitshitshitshitshit" from Karkat. "Sollux, stay with me," she says, her voice quivering. Sollux's eyes begin to glow, and she can see out of the corner of her eye Karkat backing away.

She moves her hand slowly from his torso up to his face, trying to steady her own shaking to keep from making any sudden movements. Cautiously she strokes his face in gentle paps, hoping to reach through the effect of whatever chemicals are screwing with his brain. "Sollux, Sollux, Sollux," she murmurs.

Karkat considers looking away, but doesn't really have the self-control to make that conscious choice. They're beautiful wrecks, his two best friends, and any thoughts that he should remove himself from the intimacy of the situation are eradicated by the fact that he is transfixed by the scene. Now she's embracing him fully, head buried in his shoulder, and Karkat even feels a soft twinge of envy.

Sollux coughs and lurches forward. He chokes out Terezi's name as if in pain, and she paps him with greater intensity. He clutches at her hand, and lets out a rush of air. "Fuck," he spits. "What did they do to me?"

Terezi hugs him with a sigh of relief. "I don't know, but someone is going to hang for this sooner or later. Karkat was right, though. We should be more careful."

Karkat notices that they don't seem to be acknowledging his presence in the room anymore. He doesn't mind.


End file.
